AP English Language and Composition

Humor Unit TestSpring 2016Form: Hogs

KEY

AP AP

A. PunB. Parody C. MalapropismD. Innuendo E. Black Humor AB. AbsurdismAC. SatireAD. SarcasmAE. CaricatureBC. Double Entendre CD. Slapstick

AP English Language and CompositionHumor Unit Test

Spring 2016Form: Hogs

Humor Terms Identification: Match each example below with the correct type of humor from the box on the right. Answers may be used once, more than once, or not at all.

1.Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half [Actual newspaper headline]Double Entendre

2.

Satire

3. Well, I only know the general idea behind chaos theory, but if you ask Stephen Hawking, he can tell you all of the perpendiculars. Malapropism

4. Shrek: (looking up at Lord Farquaad’s enormous castle) You think maybe he’s compensating for something? Innuendo

5. When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds. Pun

Multiple Choice: Choose the best of the answer options provided for each question. Make sure you read all of the options before making your final decision. Unless you are specifically told to mark all that apply, you should choose only one answer for each question.

6. The humor in Lederer’s “English is a Crazy Language” comes primarily froma. irony c. satire e. innuendob. sarcasm d. parody

7. Lederer’s purpose in “English is a Crazy Language” is primarily toa. entertain c. make fun of English speakersb. to point out a problem with the English language d. encourage people to start speaking differently

e. compare English to more predictable languages

8. Lederer opens his article a. with a personal anecdote d. by describing how widely spoken ab. with an oxymoron-based pun about languagec. by appealing to the reader’s emotions

language English ise. with ice-breaking jokes that do not offend the audience as much as the later ones.

9. Lee, the author of the letter to the Honorable Ed Foreman, is actually most concerned abouta. Foreman’s advice for successfully raising hogs d. how illogical the farm subsidy policy isb. how he can get money from the governmentc. how his friend is making more money than he is

e. the fact that some farmers are getting paid to do nothing, which is unfair

10. Lee’s use of statisticsa. makes him a more reliable source d. is flawed because his numbers don’t add upb. makes what seemed previously reasonable now seem unreasonable

correctlye. prove just how expensive and unpredictable

c. is meant to humiliate Foreman farming really is

11. Lee and Tvedten both write humorous letters, but Lee uses ______, while Tvedten ______.a. irony and avoids attacking his reader; uses sarcasm in an attempt to humiliate his reader

d. situational irony to make his letter memorable; ridicules his audience with

b. satire to point out a flaw; uses only lower level humor such as puns and scatological humorc. absurdism to bring an important issue to his reader’s attention; uses satire to critique the ill informed bureaucracy

scathing verbal ironye. parody to soften his criticism; uses satire to attempt to correct his audience’s failings

12. Tvedten uses all of the following types of humor in his letter EXCEPTa. puns c. satire e. sarcasmb. scatological humor d. absurdism

13. Tvedten’s letter was widely circulated on the internet, and became a kind of urban legend. Often the details were altered. Names, dates, and places were changed, although most of the letter remained the same. This phenomenon suggests that

a. the letter was intended as a parody, and others parodied it in turn

c. humor is not always the most effective means of making a point

b. internet users were trying to protect Tvedten from retaliation by the local Michigan government agencies

d. many people approved of Tvedten’s purpose, and likely wanted to magnify the resultse. people are gullible and do not evaluate their sources

14. Stephen Colbert’s speech a. begins with lighter jokes, and then steadily gets more critical, never letting the audience breathe easilyb. is funny mainly because of the dramatic irony

d. is funny mainly because of his use of malapropismse. alternates between “safe” jokes and scathing satire, giving the audience relief

it createsc. starts to change in tone, becoming more lighthearted, with the mention of the Chinese ambassador

from the tension only to make even more shockingly critical remarks

15. In Stephen Colbert’s speech at the White House Correspondents Dinner, Colbert criticizes which of

the following [MARK ALL THAT APPLY]a. The president d. Fox Newsb. The pressc. The military

e. The press secretary

16. Although Colbert’s humor has multiple targets, he ends up arguing mostly to ______, whom he expects to actually make some change.

a. the president d. the militaryb. the pressc. the larger American public

e. The press secretaryab. Fox News

17. At the end of “A Modest Proposal,” Swift mentions his own family, which for the persona of the speaker, is an attempt to

a. evoke sympathy in his audience c. make himself seem like a hypocriteb. assure his audience that he will not be able to profit from his own scheme

d. make the audience ponder how much they love their own wives and children

18. Which of the following ideas mentioned in “A Modest Proposal” does Swift (the real Swift) actually advocate?

a. a decrease in the population of Catholics c. taking the advice of the Americansb. separating infectious people from the general population

d. encouraging people to only buy domestically produced goodse. restricting who can have children

19. At one point, Swift writes, “It is true, a child just dropped from its dam may be supported by her milk for a solar year.” This phrasing

a. as at other points in the proposal, is dehumanizing, and suggests that the poor are livestock, no different from horses or cattle

c. ought to shock the reader and make him question his own view of the poord. all of the above

b. lines up with his other criticisms of poor women, and suggests that they are abusive to their children, and cannot be trusted to raise them properly

ab. both A and Bbc. both B and Cac. both A and C

20. Swift’s use of statistics in “A Modest Proposal” is most similar to that ofa. Tvedten in his letter to Price d. Swift in “Meditation upon a Broomstick”b. Lee in his letter to Ed Foremanc. Lederer in “English is a Crazy Langauge”

e. The Onion’s in the mock press release on Magnsoles

21. “Meditation upon a Broomstick” resembles Boyle’s “Reflection” in all of the following ways EXCEPTa. long, complex sentence structure d. degradation of womenb. authoritative and dramatic tonec. its somewhat strained and dubious analogy

e. its structure of description followed by analogy

22. Compared to The Onion’s mock press release about Magnasoles, which should be classified as ______, “Meditation upon a Broomstick” represents ______ level of humor, as it is ______.

a. a parody; a higher; a satire c. a satire; the same; a satireb. a satire; a lower; a parody d. a parody; the same; a parody

23. Which of the following employs black humor?a. “A Modest Proposal” c. Tvedten’s letter to Priceb. Boyle’s “Reflection” d. “Letter to the Honorable Ed Foreman”

e. “English is a Crazy Language”

24. Of the following, which use irony, but specifically in the service of satire? [MARK ALL THAT APPLY]

a. The White House Correspondents Dinner Speech c. “English is a Crazy Language”b. “Meditation upon a Broomstick” d. “Letter to the Honorable Ed Foreman”

e. Boyle’s “Reflection”

25. Which of the following does NOT use imitation as a rhetorical strategy?26. Which of the following titles is ironic?

a. “A Modest Proposal” c. “Letter to the Honorable Ed Foreman”b. Boyle’s “Reflection” d. “Meditation upon a Broomstick”

e. “English is a Crazy Language”

a. Lederer d. Swift in “Meditation upon a Broomstick”b. Tvedtenc. The Onion in the Magnasoles article

e. Colbert

27. Which of the following authors could you argue use an ironic mask? a. Colbert, Swift in “A Modest Proposal,” Lederer

c. Swift in “Meditation upon a Broomstick,” Tvedten, Lederer

b. Lee, Swift in “Meditation upon a Broomstick,” The Onion writers

d. Swift in “A Modest Proposal,” Colbert, Leee. Tvedten, Lee, Lederer

28. Which of the following works uses the highest level of humor?a. “Meditation upon a Broomstick” c. Boyle’s Reflectionsb. “English is a Crazy Language” d. Colbert’s White House Correspondents Dinner Speech

29. In his speech, Colbert often uses Bush’s own words against him, closely paraphrasing or directly quoting the president for the purpose of ridiculing him. This tactic is the same one used by

30. In

the cartoon below, the cartoonist is critical of

a. Lederer d. Swift in “Meditation upon a Broomstick”b. Tvedtenc. Lee

e. Swift in “A Modest Proposal”

a. Martin Luther King Jr. for paving the way for violent protests

d. Police actions during the Ferguson protests, as they violated civilians’ civil rights

b. modern black civil rights leaders for encouraging violence, something MLK would not have approved ofc. modern black leaders for directing their anger at other African Americans, which would have saddened MLK

e. young black men today, who are prone to violence and not listening to black civil rights leaders

31. Which of the following cartoons expresses the view most similar to the cartoon above?a.

b.

c.

d.

Alice Duer Miller wrote the following piece for the New York Tribune in 1915. At the time, there was fierce debate on the topic of women’s suffrage. Read “Why We Oppose Pockets for Women,” and then answer the questions that follow.

Why We Oppose Pockets for Women

1. Because pockets are not a natural right.

2. Because the great majority of women do not want pockets. If they did they would have them.

3. Because whenever women have had pockets they have not used them.

4. Because women are required to carry enough things as it is, without the additional burden of pockets.

5. Because it would make dissension between husband and wife as to whose pockets were to be filled.

6. Because it would destroy man’s chivalry toward woman, if he did not have to carry all her things in his pockets.

7. Because men are men, and women are women. We must not fly in the face of nature.

8. Because pockets have been used by men to carry tobacco, pipes, whiskey flasks, chewing gum and compromising letters. We see no reason to suppose that women would use them more wisely.

32. Based on this article, one could most convincingly argue that Miller is actuallya. in favor of women’s suffrage d. undecided on the issueb. against women’s suffragec. sympathetic to those on both sides of the issue

e. annoyed with the debate and of the opinion that the importance of the issue has been exaggerated

33. In this article, Miller a. uses mainly situational irony to get her point across

d. is satirizing the arguments of those who oppose women’s suffrage

b. uses mainly puns and double entendre to get her point acrossc. uses parody to make the arguments of those supporting women’s suffrage look ridiculous

e. is employing sarcasm to mock those who are making such a big deal out of what she sees as an unimportant issue

34. If one considers the type of humor used and the purpose for it, one could assume that Miller’s primary audience was most likely

a. supporters of women’s suffrage c. those who had not heard about the issueb. those opposed to women’s suffrage d. those who were tired of hearing about the issue

35. Which of the following cartoonists would agree most closely with Miller’s actual stance on women’s suffrage?

a.

b.

c.d.

Short Essay: (30% of the total test grade) Pick ONE—and only one—of the following questions, and answer it on a separate sheet of paper. Make sure to indicate which prompt you are answering. In these short essays, I will be looking for an arguable thesis, and good, specific support. You do not need to write an introduction or conclusion. You may split the response into paragraphs, or keep it all as one paragraph. Include as much detail as possible when developing your argument. Length will vary, but should be at least a page, single-spaced (if you write in big, loopy letters, expect to be writing more than a page!). Do NOT simply rehash what we’ve discussed in class. If you mention something we discussed in class, you must add a great deal to it, or you will not receive credit for your answer. You may bring in outside evidence, but your response must reference at least TWO of the works we have read in class.

1. Make an argument about satire (in written, spoken, and/or cartoon form) and freedom of speech. Be sure to reference at least two works from this unit.

2. Pick at least two works from this unit and compare and/or contrast each author’s relationship to the audience(s) and how that affects the use of humor. You might consider the wider context of the work, the power dynamics between author and audience, the type(s) of humor, the author’s purpose, etc. Make sure that there is a compelling reason to pair/group the works you choose.

3. Pick ONE of the political cartoons below and compare/contrast it with at least TWO works from this unit.

100Exceptional answer. Clear, sophisticated thesis. Original argument with specific, detailed support, and clear explanations. Observations are very perceptive. Does not focus on evidence or points that were discussed in class. Anticipates counterarguments. There is often an element of risk to these responses. They tend not to be “safe” answers.

95Excellent answer. Clear, sophisticated thesis. Original argument with specific, detailed support, and clear explanations. Less perceptive than the 100s. Does not focus on evidence or points that were discussed in class. May not anticipate counterarguments as well as the 100s.

90Very good answer. Clear thesis. Original argument with slightly weaker support, or not entirely original argument with fresh, new evidence. Does not focus on evidence or points that were discussed in class. Lacks the astute observations of the 95 or 100 essay, and may not anticipate counterarguments well, but strong writing nonetheless.

85 Good answer. Clear thesis. Original argument with fairly weak support, or a partly original argument with excellent support and some new evidence. May be somewhat weaker in explanations and prose, but still a solid response.

80Adequate answer. Clear thesis. Partly original argument with good support and some new evidence. May be more general than the 85s, or answer may be more obvious. May be less focused. May need additional examples to really prove case. Writing may be noticeably weaker than the 85s or 90s.

75Fair answer. Clear thesis. Makes a clear, logical argument that is supported by textual evidence. Evidence may be rather weak and/or may not be explained very well. Some evidence may have been discussed in class, but at least some new evidence or insight exists. Writing may be immature or marred by multiple grammatical mistakes.

70Poor answer, but makes a logical argument and does include some textual evidence. Thesis may not be totally clear, or may really occur only at end of argument. Essay may be underdeveloped and/or poorly explained. Not all evidence may support argument well. Writing may be weak.

60 Problematic answer. May contain an illogical argument, factual errors, little to no evidence, or only rehash what has been discussed in class. May be mostly generalizations and unsupported claims. Thesis may be vague or may not exist at all.

50and

below

Seriously problematic paper. Major factual errors. Usually very underdeveloped or unfocused. May lack a thesis, evidence, or coherent argument. May summarize or offer personal response instead of the analysis and synthesis asked for.

Short Essay Grading Rubric:

Scantron Score:_______ Essay Score: _______ Total Score: _______

Texts Covered: Mock Press Release for MagnaSoles—The Onion Boyle’s Reflection“Meditation upon a Broomstick”—Jonathan Swift “A Modest Proposal”—Jonathan Swift“English is a Crazy Language”—Richard LedererStephen Colbert’s White House Dinner SpeechLetter to the Honorable Ed Foreman”—J.B. Lee, Jr.

Michigan Beaver Dam letters—David L. Price and Stephen L. Tvedten